Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti,
whose term at the head of an unelected government expires in
April, said he would be willing to stay on.

“Should there be a special circumstance, which I hope will
not be, were I to be asked, I would consider,” Monti said today
in a public discussion organized by the Council of Foreign
Relations in New York. “I will be there, I will consider, I
cannot preclude anything.”

Monti’s availability to extend his leadership marks a
departure from previous statements in which he downplayed the
possibility of a second term. The experience of a caretaker
government, he said on Sept. 10, “is definitely episodic,
transitory and limited in time.” Italian bonds yields fell
after Monti’s comments.

“We think that Monti wants to buy some insurance against
the possibility market tensions intensify very significantly
again,” said Silvio Peruzzo, European economist at Nomura
International Plc. “He won’t likely run for prime minister but
he would stand ready to get appointed by political parties
should that be required by market conditions and political
stalemate.”

Monti also said he wouldn’t run in the elections as he is
already a member of parliament, though he’d consider staying on
after the vote should he be asked to serve.

Divided Parliament

“We would need to see a hung parliament and, or, Italy
under serious market pressure” for Monti to be offered a second
term, said Mujtaba Rahman, an analyst at Eurasia Group in New
York. “Otherwise, a second Monti term remains unlikely.”

Monti’s approval rating rose 1 percentage point to 52
percent of voters this month, according to a Sept. 17 poll by
IPR Marketing. That compares with a low of 46 percent in June
and a high of 59 percent in February. An eventual second Monti
term was backed by 81 percent of investors and business leaders,
including at least 40 chief executive officers, who took part in
a Sole 24 Ore Radiocor survey this month.

“Monti’s agenda has to go on as it’s just at the
beginning,” Italian Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mario
Baldassarri said by phone. “It has to do it with Monti, so
ideally the next government should be led by him, but with
stronger and clear-cut political support.”

Rivalry Renewing

Italy’s two biggest political parties, which agreed in
November to support Monti’s administration, are resuming their
rivalry as the country prepares for elections. The Democratic
Party, led by Pier Luigi Bersani, and former Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party, are vying to win
enough votes to form a government led by politicians.

Monti, a former university president and European Union
commissioner, is a senator for life.